Our Community Corner spotlight feature of the week is Thistle Farms’ Amanda Cleland and Dorris Walker-Taylor. Thistle Farms is a shelter and support system dedicated to helping women recovering from prostitution, trafficking, and addiction, offering shelter and rehabilitation to those seeking help. The program is in its 25th year of operation, having started out as a primarily residential program. It separated itself and offered real support through its longevity and ease of access, being a 2 year program and offering its services completely free. Thistle Farms began expanding the services and support it offered, branching into healthcare and therapy.
Dorris tells her story in this interview, stating the real support Thistle Farms offered to her in her most dire time of need. Emphasizing the roles of love and justice in the program’s intention, Amanda and Dorris describe the ways in which Thistle Farms is a “mission with a business rather than a business with a mission.” They operate with a people-first strategy, ensuring the women are always at the forefront of the program’s activity.
Thistle Farms has been able to take real action in terms of introducing and passing bills and legislature locally, including an amend to Nashville’s aggravated prostitution law, putting an end to over 30 years of stigma against women in recovery. They speak on the 5,000 trauma therapy appointments and 9,895 nights of safe housing they have been able to provide for women in just the past year.
You can donate to Thistle Farms and learn about their origins on their website. Learn more about Thistle Farms by listening below:
